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St. Charles N. dominates Batavia from get-go

The first possession was as telling as it was a precursor to the outcome.

St. Charles North senior guard Alec Goetz had already misfired once, only to hit a short baseline jumper moments later.

It was the third shot of the North Stars’ opening possession against Batavia Friday night in Upstate Eight River boys basketball action in St. Charles.

The North Stars would never trail, nor was the game ever tied, in their 70-49 victory.

“That first possession was nothing but competing against (Batavia),” St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin said.

The final stat sheet showed that Goetz was the North Stars’ ringleader with his game-high 18 points.

But it was junior Jack Callaghan who was at the forefront of the North Stars’ offensive and defensive attack.

The 6-foot-3 forward scored 12 points, hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds and dished out 5 assists.

The symbolic coup de grace of the game came late in third quarter when Callaghan and Goetz hit back-to-back 3-pointers to extend the North Stars’ lead to 51-27.

“Jack does it all,” Poulin said. “Jack could score 4 points a game and impact a game more than any other player on the floor.”

“We’re ready to go for Pontiac (on Thursday),” Callaghan said of the North Stars’ third appearance at the famed holiday tournament. “I get a lot of minutes. (Starting forward) Eric (Miller) is out. I had to cover a little bit of the scoring and rebounding (Miller provides).”

Poulin said Miller is out at least three weeks and won’t play at the Pontiac Tournament.

It was a disastrous opening first half for Batavia (2-6, 0-3).

St. Charles North (6-3, 3-1) had twice as many players score from the field in the first quarter than the Bulldogs had field goals.

It translated into an 18-7 lead for St. Charles North, which limited Batavia to 5-18 shooting in opening a 31-16 lead at the break.

Batavia did not have a conventional field goal in the second quarter and also missed 4 of its 7 free-throw attempts in the first half.

“It was the first time all season we struggled offensively,” Batavia coach Jim Nazos said. “We’re not pointing fingers at anyone individually. You get down (early) and you press a little. I understand that. St. Charles North had a really good game.”

Ten players in all would score field goals for the North Stars.

Chase Gianacakos is the epitome of big boy.

The mountainous 6-7, 285-pound Michigan State football recruit rejoined the basketball team for his final year.

Gianacakos’ presence in the paint was unmistakable, even in his role as a bench player.

“(Poulin) always says that each person has a role,” said Gianacakos, who had 8 points. “Coming off the bench, I want to play aggressively.”

Nine players eventually scored from the floor for Batavia, but Chasen Peez and Micah Coffey were the only players to tally more than a lone field goal.

Peez hit two 3-pointers to frame his team-high 15 points; Coffey added 12.

Jake Ludwig had 10 points for St. Charles North.

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